We all remember the Wii's game server getting shutdown leaving us with no network gaming. And all servers will sooner or later disappear. In ye olden days of PC gaming most of the networking actually was another PC you connected to and it still is like this for many indies. The good thing about this is that as long as people are playing, there will be servers to connect to.
This patent seems to be able to negate many of the bad things with cloud services.
So in essence, the entire server architecture gets decentralized, and every console will have the server on there own console. So when you connect to for example a splatoon match, it might be on your very own server, or your neighbors or Miyamotos console. And as long as people have consoles in their home, and wants to play a game, it will be possible to play since you host your own server.
This will also mean that Nintendo doesn't need to have big server parks with game servers, they just need some extras here and there to help the network out. Which also mean we probably won't have to pay for online, which could be a nice selling point.
I do not see it as a good idea to have it separated from the console though.
Thanks for making this thread, @Therad — I wanted to as well, but have been strapped for time and engrossed in Xenoblade.
This patent could really be something special. In addition to the unique server setup, the Supplemental Computing Device could also work in tandem with a separate gaming system to, well, supplement performance, if I understand the patent correctly. This could factor into speculation about the NX as a shared handheld and home platform (i.e. the handheld connects to the Supplement Computing Device for at-home play). Plus it somehow ties into the Nintendo Account system, which could mean potential rewards for server hosts.
In any case, it really opens up possibilities; a setup like this could completely tear out the foundations of the "you have a console and you upgrade it with a more powerful one (and a whole new library of games, from scratch) every 4-6 years" structure that the gaming industry currently rests on. It's a modular setup — you can just casually cruise with a handheld and enjoy the same library as everyone else with the shared OS Mr. Iwata previously mentioned, or if you're a hardcore fan, you grab a Supplemental Computing Device and have a more fully featured experience. Could there be different price ranges and specs of the SCDs, or could one even daisy chain them together?
There's always the possibility that this is the last we'll see of the patent. But there's also the possibility that Nintendo is about to once again fundamentally change the video gaming landscape. And that's really exciting.
Sounds alot like what Sony and MS were promising with their own cloud services. I really doubt it'll do anything as drastic as remove the need for new consoles every 5 years. Even if did work like that, consumers like shiny new things, even if they aren't massive upgrades. Just look at every yearly phone, the PS4, the Xbox One. Graphics weren't improved that much, but people get hyped anyway. Imagine how boring it would be if we just downloaded some new software update every 5th year instead of getting a new piece of technology.
@Operative, I think there will certainly be new pieces of technology — probably more than before, in fact. It's possible that your phone example hit the nail on the head; perhaps rather than a new box with new games every cycle, we'll have one Nintendo OS across multiple devices, like iOS on the iPad and iPhone — different devices for different tastes. In time, certain games may be restricted to newer hardware, but I dream of building a single Nintendo library that stays in-tact when new hardware iterations come out (like migrating your apps to a new iPhone).
All speculation, of course, with a little basis in Iwata's statements about an iOS-like unified platform. I do think, though, that if Nintendo goes with the cloud, they must've found a way to make their system very reliable — they're too dedicated to in-game performance to accept anything else.
This patent really excites me. If you have an HTC phone like I do there is an app called HTC Power to Give, which allows you to lend your phone's cpu power when it is charging (and more than 95% full battery) towards research into different causes like diabetes and poverty. I think Nintendo is going to do something along those lines. I really can't wait to see what NX is
This patent is exciting stuff. I was discussing it today with a fellow attorney (neither of us do patents but we have a good understanding of that area of law) and if it is describing what we think it is describing then the NX is going to be 1. affordable, and 2. powerful. I am already going to start budgeting $50 a month towards my NX fund. No lunches at work for me this year.
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Topic: Nintendo patent showing a cloud service
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